The 2022 Copa Sudamericana final takes place at Argentina’s Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes on Saturday, with Brazilian club Sao Paulo facing Ecuadorian side Independiente del Valle.
Sau Paulo’s first and only Copa Sudamericana triumph came back in 2012. However, they are three-time Copa Libertadores champions (1992, 1993, 2005).
As for Independiente del Valle, they won the Copa Sudamericana in 2019. Three years earlier, they reached the Copa Libertadores final but failed to seal the deal.
Sao Paulo kicked off their Copa Sudamericana campaign with five wins and a draw in the group stage before claiming an 8-3 aggregate victory over Universidad Catolica in the round of 16.
The Brazilians went on to beat Ceara on penalties in the quarter-finals before booking with spot in the final with another penalty victory over Atletico Goianiense in the semis.
Sao Paulo head into the final on a run of one defeat in six games across all competitions, securing back-to-back wins over Ceara and Avai in Serie A.
Even so, they find themselves in tenth place in Brazil’s top-flight standings – having struggled for consistency throughout the campaign.
On the flip side, Independiente del Valle started this season in the Copa Libertadores but dropped into the Copa Sudamericana after finishing third in their group.
Since then, however, the Ecuadorians have dispatched Lanus (2-1), Deportivo Tachira (5-1) and Melgar (6-0) on their way to the final.
It is worth noting that Independiente del Valle head into the final on a seven-game unbeaten streak in the Copa Sudamericana.
Having won 12 of their previous 16 games across all competitions, Independiente del Valle will be confident of getting the better of Sao Paulo on Saturday.
Head-to-head: This is the first meetings between Sao Paulo and Independiente del Valle, meaning we have no previous results to analyze for this clash.
Team news: Sao Paulo have numerous injury absentees at the moment, including Caio, Robert Arboleda, Andre Anderson, Nikao, Joao Moreira and Gabriel Neves.
By contrast, Independiente del Valle have just one player sidelined through injury – with Nicolas Previtali expected to miss the final.
When you couple Sao Paulo’s injury problems with their questionable recent form, all the signs point towards an Independiente del Valle triumph on Saturday.
Forebet predicts that Independiente del Valle will seal a narrow victory in Argentina, scoring under 1.5 goals and keeping a clean sheet on their way to lifting the trophy.